Wiring question: series and parallel

What's Hot
OK, so I have HH config and a 5 way switch. Positions 1, 3 and 5 are Parallel and 2, 4 are series. The problem with the 5 way is that jumping from 4 to 2 gives a sudden 'loud' moment flicking past 3. 

I was wondering if it is possible to wire with a 3 way switch and a push-pull to go from series to parallel? I suspect not as I have found no such diagram thus far.

Question 2: the bridge series setting sounds awesome and rather stratty, but the neck series sounds pretty weedy and yuk. This is probably due to the pickup (tonerider in neck, Bareknuckle in Bridge). I'm reluctant to swap the Tonerider out though as I love the Humbucker neck and middle sounds. Is there any clever way to improve the position 4 sound?
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    are you after the both pickups on setting to be series/parallel, or do you want each pickup to have the series/parallel option

    both are possible with push/pull's but you will need a push/pull for each pickup if its the second option
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    edited August 2013
    So you can wire each pickup to a push/pull like this before they go to the 3-way switch - lots of extra sounds
    image


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    edited August 2013
    or like this if for the inbetween setting only - 1 extra sound only
    image
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Thanks for the input Wez. I really like the idea of the two push pulls, but the problem is that I'm very reluctant to lose my current volume pot. I searched long and hard for a decent volume control - everything I bought was not good enough, no-one sells anything decent! I finally got a superb PRS pot from a generous MR donor.
    So, how would the second diagram work with 4 wire humbuckers? and showing my ignorance here, how would one know which wire is hot? most diagrams seem to refer to slug or screw, or North/south (all of which confuse me!)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    axisus said:
    OK, so I have HH config and a 5 way switch. Positions 1, 3 and 5 are Parallel and 2, 4 are series. The problem with the 5 way is that jumping from 4 to 2 gives a sudden 'loud' moment flicking past 3.

    I was wondering if it is possible to wire with a 3 way switch and a push-pull to go from series to parallel? I suspect not as I have found no such diagram thus far.

    Question 2: the bridge series setting sounds awesome and rather stratty, but the neck series sounds pretty weedy and yuk. This is probably due to the pickup (tonerider in neck, Bareknuckle in Bridge). I'm reluctant to swap the Tonerider out though as I love the Humbucker neck and middle sounds. Is there any clever way to improve the position 4 sound?
    Sounds more like the other way round - 1, 3 & 5 are series (louder) and 2 & 4 are parallel (quieter) - which is how it's normally set up.

    It's possible to wire a push-pull to do series/parallel, but only for one pickup - so you would need two push-pulls.

    You could change the neck 'series' (which I think is actually parallel) to a single coil, which should give you something close to the classic Strat neck pickup sound. This is pretty straightforward, but I can't give exact instructions without knowing how the pickup is wired/colour-coded.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547

    axisus said:
    So, how would the second diagram work with 4 wire humbuckers? and showing my ignorance here, how would one know which wire is hot? most diagrams seem to refer to slug or screw, or North/south (all of which confuse me!)
    on the BKP the red wire would be hot, black and braid would be ground.  the green and white would be soldered together and taped out the way as you are not doing anything fancy with the connection between the coils

    thinking about it - if you wanted this "both pickups in series option"  the best way may be the 4-way switch for telecasters rather than a push/pull, then you could still use a push pull for coil splits, one push pull would split both pickups
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    edited August 2013
    multi posts deleted! None of them showed up at first!?!?!?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    edited August 2013

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    edited August 2013

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280

    ICBM: Doh! Trust me to get it the wrong way around. I almost looked it up first but then I was lazy.

    Actually I like that idea of just the bridge with series/parallel, and the neck HB splitting to single coil instead.

    So ideal wiring would be 3 way switch for 3 HB sounds, neck HB splits to single coil (maybe with a micro switch if necessary) and bridge pup has Parallel/series. The tone knob is already an unused push\pull I can use.

    Alternatively I could stick with the 5 way superswitch that is currently in. If you have any kind of wiring diagram with ‘known’ colours (eg Seymour Duncan, DiMarxio), I could convert it to my colours easily enough.

     

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    edited August 2013
    I don't have a diagram, and trying to draw one up for the superswitch from scratch without knowing how it's wired at the moment could create far more work for you! If you could draw what's there at the moment and email it to me (PM me and I'll give you my address) I might be able to work out the right short cut - there should be one, since effectively you're just not selecting the second coil when it's in position 2. You need to know which is which of the coils in the neck pickup too, since you'll want the one closest to the fingerboard to remain on.

    The miniswitch is easier, although not as elegant! And it avoids the loud-quiet-loud-quiet-loud problem. It's unfortunate that the push-pull can't be wired for series-parallel on the bridge pickup and split the neck pickup at the same time, since that still needs one more contact than the switch has.

    There is an existing diagram for something very similar though - the Fender 'Big Apple' Strat used a 'half superswitch' (2-pole 5-way) to give the same settings except that position 4 was the inner coils of both pickups in parallel, rather than the bridge pickup itself in parallel.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27346
    edited April 2021
    How did it go?

    [edit]
    damn - timmyo got there first, and I’ve lost my powers of deletion.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    A-ha! The phantom necro thread bumper strikes again! :grin: 
    Be seeing you.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.